Reed Dunn, Senior Recruitment Marketing Manager:
Excitement. Fear. Anxiety. Repeat.
I’m getting chills now just thinking about the idea of crossing the finish line at the Rock ’n’ Roll Las Vegas Half Marathon this coming Sunday. Completely overcome with chills. And the excitement and fear and anxiety that comes with it.
This has been an incredibly personal journey that has taken me on an emotional rollercoaster I never saw coming. As I settled into my taper week and went for a 5K run Monday evening through the streets of a cold, damp Seattle, I just couldn’t believe what this training process has done for me personally.
When I finished my Monday evening run, I was staring down the Seattle skyline and a few tears started slowing streaming down my cheeks. It was pure, raw emotion.
It may sound silly – it certainly would have to me nine or 10 weeks ago – but this has been the single most incredibly life-changing journey in my entire 33 years of life. And I haven’t even run the actual race.
There’s something truly personal and so individually satisfying about this journey that I’m not at all embarrassed to share what it feels like for me. Or that I’ve cried on more than one occasion throughout the training process. I’m doing this for me. Realizing that is some heavy stuff that brings back feelings from days when working out even once or twice a week was not something I thought possible.
My half marathon journey follows on the heels of a longer, two-year trip through losing more than 70 pounds of excess fat to get to the healthiest weight of my life. That goal was not one I set just for me and, while it definitely is one I am so proud of accomplishing, did not feel as life-changing as preparing for my first ever half marathon.
That’s because this time I’ve really set a goal for me and only me.
I have received a mountain of support and congratulations and messages from friends who tell me how proud they are of my accomplishments. That’s just the icing on the cake. In the end, crossing that finish line on Sunday evening will be a self-satisfying moment I expect I’ll never forget. And I’m sure I’ll cry a few more tears.
This journey has been about so much more than improving my physical health. My personal and mental health both have been dramatically changed for the better, as well. That’s why I’m not afraid to share the emotion of it all.
Plus, aside from the fact this is being published for all of the world to see, most people would mistake the tears running down my cheeks as the beads of sweat that always surround them on all sides.
Reed Dunn is senior recruitment marketing manager at Alere Wellbeing. Follow his journey with regular updates on the Alere Wellbeing blog, as he prepares to run his first half marathon on December 4 in Las Vegas.